A 26-year-old Italian runner has been killed by a bear while hiking in the Trentino region of northern Italy.
In response, local authorities ordered the slaughter of the animal responsible for the attack.
This was the first officially recorded death from a bear attack in Italian history, according to the NGO WWF Italy.
The case happened last Wednesday (5), but the autopsy confirmed the dynamics of the accident only this Friday (7), reported Italian press vehicles, such as La Stampa, Il Resto Del Carlino and Il Mattino.
The attack
Young runner Andrea Papi left his home in the Italian commune of Caldes around 4 pm local time last Wednesday to go hiking, reported Il Resto Del Carlino.
He arrived at the top of the Mount Peller trail around 5 pm, when he recorded a short video and posted it on his social networks. On his way home, around 6 pm, he had an encounter with a bear.
A bloody stick was found, with which Andrea would have injured the bear when trying to defend himself. He tried to escape through the woods, but was unsuccessful.
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Around 8:30 pm, the family reported the jogger missing, and a group of more than 100 firefighters and mountain rescue workers began a search.
Shortly before 3 am on Thursday (8), his body was found with scratches and other injuries.
An expertise carried out by a coroner, a veterinarian and an expert in animal DNA confirmed that a bear killed Andrea.
Authorities call for slaughter of the animal
According to WWF Italy, the population of bears in the Italian region of Trentino is around 100 individuals. In recent years, there have been seven episodes of what they call “aggressive interaction” between bears and people, but no deaths have ever been reported.
Bear hair samples were collected from Andrea’s body and are undergoing DNA testing to identify which bear killed him.
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The president of the province of Trento, Maurizio Fugatti, as reported by La Stampa, ordered the monitoring of the area by the Forestry Guard to identify the animal responsible for the attack and to slaughter it.
Fugatti also asked for the slaughter of three other bears in the region with a “problematic” history. For example, a bear, identified by authorities as “MJ5”, which bit a man’s head and arm in March.
The WWF stated that, taking into account the severity of the episode and the dynamics, it understands that the protocol for the slaughter of the bear responsible for the runner’s death should be applied. But the organization disagrees with the capture and slaughter orders for the other animals.
“The conservation of the bear population in the Alps also depends on the correct management of episodes of this type”, wrote the NGO.
“It’s important to reiterate, even after this event, that bears typically fear humans and keep their distance, trying to avoid close encounters,” he added.
(Posted by Léo Lopes. Manoela Carlucci, from CNN, contributed to this story.)
Source: CNN Brasil
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